Three-minute news breakfast on Friday, December 22, 2023

1) Premier Li Qiang signed a State Council order announcing the "Decision of the State Council on Amending the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China."

2) The State Council Tariff Commission: China will adjust import and export tariffs on some goods starting January 1, 2024.

3) Jishi Mountain 6.2 magnitude earthquake: A total of 784 injured people have been treated in the earthquake-stricken area of Gansu; 22 people died in Haidong City, Qinghai Province; temporary post offices have been set up in resettlement points to ensure smooth express delivery. An accident at a coal mine in Jixi, Heilongjiang Province, resulted in 12 deaths and 13 injuries, and an investigation team has been established to investigate the accident.

4) The Shenzhou XVII astronaut crew successfully completed their first extravehicular activity, completing the predetermined tasks, including the solar wing repair test of the Tianhe core module. The Long March 7 No. 8 carrier rocket has arrived at the launch site and is scheduled to launch in early 2024.

China's independently developed "Haijing" system has completed 3000-meter ultra-deep water 3D seismic exploration for the first time.

5) The highest bandwidth of the backbone network core node has been increased to 1.2T, and China's next-generation Internet technology test capabilities have steadily improved.

6) Ministry of Civil Affairs: Industry associations and chambers of commerce must not use the word "China" in their awards and commendation activities without approval.

7) [Rule of Law] Hao Zongqiang, deputy director and first-level inspector of the Publicity Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, was "double-opened" for serious disciplinary violations and law-breaking. The first trial of Yi Pengfei, former vice chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, on charges of bribery and abuse of power, opened. The first trial of the civil public interest litigation case for the protection of the reputation of revolutionary hero He Kexi was announced: three defendants publicly apologized in national media and paid 150,000 yuan in compensation for public interest damages. A man was sentenced to 21 years in prison for raping and murdering sisters; the Inner Mongolia High Court held a retrial of the Zhou Yonggang rape and intentional homicide case, revoked the original ruling, and declared him not guilty. Zhou Yonggang: I was an 18-year-old young man when the case happened, and now I am 53 years old. My father passed away 10 years ago when I was released from prison.

8) [Military] Recently, a certain station of the Eastern Theater Command Air Force conducted flight support training, closely following the needs of practical combat support.

10) [Taiwan] The State Council Tariff Commission decided to suspend tariff reductions for some products under the "Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement". The Taiwan Affairs Office: Lai Ching-te's provocative remarks are extremely dangerous, and we hope that the vast majority of Taiwanese compatriots will recognize the extreme danger of "Taiwan independence".

1) The launching ceremony of the Belarusian version of Volume I of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" and the China-Belarus Governance Seminar were held in Minsk. China's response to the US consideration of raising tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles: The so-called new rules are an upgraded version of American protectionism. Ukraine included Chinese companies on the list of war sponsors, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: demanded immediate correction.

2) The UN Security Council once again postponed the vote on the draft resolution on humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

China called on the international community to increase its efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. The EU reached an agreement on reforming its fiscal rules.

3) After the "historic ruling", is Trump still eligible to run for president? Biden responded: Trump's support for the Capitol riot is "self-evident", but whether he loses his eligibility to run for office is up to the courts to decide. When asked whether Israel and Hamas could reach a new agreement on the release of hostages, Biden said: It is being promoted, and there is no expectation yet. Foreign media: During a visit to the Middle East, US Secretary of Defense Austin suddenly boarded the USS Ford for an inspection.

The US Treasury Department announced sanctions against a Russian ship management company and several oil traders. The US current account deficit in the third quarter was US$200.3 billion.

4) The Israeli military said it had completely controlled Hamas's "power center" in Gaza City, and Hamas has not yet responded. An Israeli military spokesman said that the military operation in northern Gaza Strip is "nearing its end". The death toll in the Gaza Strip has reached 20,000, and Hamas leaders have gone to Egypt to discuss issues such as a ceasefire.

5) Macron: The new immigration bill plays a protective role for the country. Argentina announced an emergency economic decree that will abolish more than 300 existing laws and regulations, and protests erupted in the capital.

7) Panama held a "National Day of Mourning" to commemorate the victims of the US invasion.

Voting time at some polling stations in the Democratic Republic of Congo's general election has been extended to December 21.

8) Turkey air-struck targets of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in northern Iraq.

9) A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Peru on the morning of December 20, local time.

1) Ministry of Commerce: From January to November, China's outbound non-financial direct investment reached 814.54 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.4%.

2) Major state-owned banks will lower deposit interest rates on December 22, with larger cuts for longer deposit terms. The listed interest rate for three-year deposits will fall below 2%, to 1.95%, meaning 200,000 yuan deposited for three years will earn 1,800 yuan less in interest! Deposit interest rates as high as 6%? Xin'an Bank of Anhui: False information.

3) Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development: Next year, we will implement policies tailored to specific cities and situations to achieve a balance between the supply and demand of real estate.

4) Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Promote the large-scale deployment of 5G and Gigabit optical networks, and accelerate the layout of intelligent computing facilities; as of the end of November, the total number of 5G base stations reached 3.282 million, accounting for 28.5% of the total number of mobile base stations.

5) Zhongbai Group and several senior executives received warning letters for failing to disclose information in a timely manner, resulting in losses of 200 million yuan. Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo Group, donated 200 million yuan to his alma mater, University of Science and Technology of China, to support the construction of scientific research infrastructure.

1) Ministry of Education and three other departments: Increase the intensity of inspections and checks on "internet celebrity" toys and student stationery.

2) The National Cultural Heritage Administration: The Chu tomb (M1093) at Qinjiazui in Hubei Province has yielded the largest number of Warring States Chu bamboo slips and the most inscriptions discovered to date in a single tomb.

3) The Peiligang site in Henan Province unearthed a small-mouthed, pointed-bottom bottle dating back more than 7,000 years, one of the representative artifacts of the Yangshao culture.

Yunnan Provincial Museum and the Vietnam National History Museum jointly promote cultural heritage protection. An exhibition of Chinese cave temple calligraphy and painting art is being held at the Yungang Grottoes Museum in Datong, Shanxi.

4) A new batch of 388 brands are to be recognized as "Time-honored Chinese Brands," with an average age of 138 years.

1) A university in Hebei Province was complained about its inadequate heating; the school explained that it was due to insufficient city-wide heating resources combined with extremely cold weather.

2) Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission: To promote the orderly lifting of restrictions on passenger cars in Hangzhou, including driving restrictions and license plate limitations.

3) Guangdong has visited and checked on 419,000 people in need, building a "warm defense line" against the cold wave. A plot of land in Shenzhen has dropped in price by 1.6 billion yuan after two years, yet remains unsold.

4) Qinghai has preemptively issued full amounts of subsistence allowances and special hardship relief funds to families affected by the earthquake.

5) The Xuyong to Bijie section of the Longhuang Railway has opened, marking a phased achievement in the construction of the western channel of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor.

6) Temperatures remain significantly below average across most of eastern and central China. From 8 PM on December 21 to 8 PM on December 22, light to moderate snow or sleet occurred in parts of western Gansu, the Shandong Peninsula, northwestern Guizhou, and northeastern Yunnan, with heavy snow in some areas of the Shandong Peninsula.